Taipei, July 31 (CNA) Forty-two Taiwanese nationals suspected of operating a telecom fraud ring in the Philippines were repatriated to Taiwan Thursday. The suspects arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on a Philippine Airlines plane under the escort of law enforcement officers from both countries. They wore surgical masks and kept their heads down even as their identities were checked on arriving. Tipped off by information from Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau, the suspects were arrested by Philippine police in two residential areas in Iloilo, some 500 kilometers south of Manila, on July 9. Authorities had been monitoring their movements for around six months. Two other suspects from China were also arrested in the ensuing raid, and all were later sent to Manila. Coordination between Taiwan's representative office in Manila and the Philippine Immigration Department helped authorities handle their repatriation within three weeks. (By Emerson Lim, Chiu Chun-chin and Lilian Wu)